PLAYING THE PONIES
Sam Houston Race Park selections for Friday, Jan. 10
Jan 10, 2020, 6:50 am
SHRP
Here are my selections for opening night at Sam Houston Race Park. These are not meant to be in exact order, but merely the four horses I think have the best chance to win. For beginners, I suggest exacta boxes with three horses, using two of mine and one of your own. And you can always pick up a copy of Acing Racing 2016 to learn everything you need to know. (These are the picks and format that are available on the free tip sheet at SHRP). We will be doing The Blitz from 4-7 at the track so please drop by.
FIRST
5-2-8-3
JERSEY CUT will be a short price but class plunge puts her in the mix
SECOND
7-5-3-6
California shipper EXCAVATION has been in tough out West and works here are solid
THIRD
5-7-3-12
LADY SHAMAN has solid works for a barn that has a lot of win early runners
FOURTH
1-8-12-10
JAZZ MUSIC gets back to a sensible level and should be competitive here
FIFTH
11-4-2-8
VALID DECISION has a good record over the surface and could surprise here
SIXTH
6-2-3-5
CATKINS might be better if this is off the turf, but contender either way
SEVENTH
6-9-8-11
DARK ARDEN was competitive on a tough circuit and fits well here
EIGHTH
9-6-2-8
SILVER CITY TRICK has been knocking heads with tough runners in Oklahoma
NINTH
3-8-1-2
FLEETA BELLE has been close in last two and might break through here
TENTH
4-6-11-1
DOC'S CLASS ACT faced a couple tough fields in Oklahoma; fits well here
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CC Sabathia will have a New York Yankees logo on the cap of his Hall of Fame plaque and Bill Wagner will have the symbol of the Houston Astros.
The hall announced the decisions Monday for all five of this year's inductees. Ichiro Suzuki will have the cap of the Seattle Mariners, Dave Parker of Pittsburgh Pirates and Dick Allen of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Players and their families give input on the choices to the hall, which makes the final decisions.
Inductees could make the pick through the 2001 induction, and the hall took over the decision ahead of the 2002 vote. The change followed reports in 1999 that Tampa Bay offered to compensate the newly retired Wade Boggs if his plaque bore a Devil Rays logo. Boggs was inducted in 2005 and his plaque has a Boston Red Sox logo.
Sabathia spent the last 11 seasons of a 19-year big league career with the Yankees (2009-19) after pitching for Cleveland (2001-08) and Milwaukee (2008).
Suzuki played for the Mariners in 14 of 19 seasons (2001-12, 2018-19) and also for the Yankees (2012-14) and Miami (2015-17).
Wagner pitched for Houston for his first nine seasons (1995-2003), then played for Philadelphia (2004-05), the New York Mets (2006-09), Boston (2009) and Atlanta (2010).
Parker spent his first 11 seasons with Pittsburgh (1973-83), then played for Cincinnati (1984-87), Oakland (1988-89), Milwaukee (1990), California (1991) and Toronto (1991).
Allen played for the Phillies in nine seasons (1963-69, 1975-76) while also spending time with St. Louis (1970), the Los Angeles Dodgers (1971), Chicago White Sox (1972-74) and Oakland (1977).
Inductions will take place July 27. Plaques include an image of the person and list of accomplishments in about 90 words, including each team a person played for or managed.
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